Uncharted: Drake's Last Stand
by mindtakerr
Summary: Following the events of Uncharted 3, Nate and Elena decide to take a nice vacation in Scotland to unwind. After a seemingly routine tour stop, a note written by William Wallace leads them to uncover even more of Francis Drake's secrets.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Thank you to all who are interested in reading about Drake's Last Stand! I've had the idea for this kicking around for a while, and I even wrote a good portion of it before, and I have recently had the desire to finish it. I've got some more ideas, too, so expect some more fanfic in the Uncharted universe, and maybe some others.

This story takes place shortly after the events of Uncharted 3. I hope you enjoy reading about what I've got in store for Nate, Sully, Elena, and some newcomers! Please send me any feedback you have via reviews or messages, etc. I would really appreciate hearing what you think.

* * *

Elena Fisher looked out the window of the Boeing 737 that was currently carrying her over the British Isles. It was the first time in ages that she'd actually been able to ride on a normal, passenger airliner. She turned to her husband, Nathan Drake, and pointed out the window. "We're almost there!" she said with the utmost excitement.

The jet was nearing the Edinburgh airport, and the loving couple was about to begin a much-needed vacation. Recently, Nate and Elena had a bit of a falling out. They were separated; their marriage was on the brink of failure, but as it always had done in the past... love endured. Nate smiled at his wife. He tried to play it cool, but in reality, he was looking forward to this trip as much as she was. He loved Elena, and it was clear now that no force on planet Earth would be able to separate them. Many of them had certainly tried.

The pilot came over the in-flight intercom; his voice bore a traditional London accent. "Good evening, folks. We will be arriving in Edinburgh at 7:30 PM local time. It's been a pleasure having you here on..." Nate had stopped paying attention. All he cared about was checking into the five star hotel that he had booked for the week. He was exhausted, having just come off another fortune-hunting expedition, this one to the Arabian Desert, and he planned to do some serious sleeping that night.

The plane touched down a few moments later. Nate and Elena exited the plane quickly and grabbed their luggage. They found a nice cab driver who offered to take them swiftly to the nearby hotel. They arrived at the Balmoral and found it to be quite luxurious, especially in comparison to their usual lodgings. Once they were checked into their room, they both fell almost immediately to sleep.

The next morning, Nathan Drake rose early, as he usually did. He had plan to take Elena sightseeing that day, starting with Edinburgh Castle, a landmark that, despite all of his worldly travels, he had actually never seen. He contemplated going to get breakfast in the hotel restaurant, but he decided instead to order room service. Elena awoke just before breakfast arrived.

"Perfect timing!" Nate exclaimed as he heard the hotel staff calling from outside. It was just like in all the movies. There was a nice cart laid out with a dozen or so silver dishes, each of which contained wonderful-smelling food. He tipped the staff and pushed the cart over to Elena's side at the bed. "Rise and shine," he beckoned.

Elena forced a smile through her exhaustion. "Someone has an ungodly amount of energy this morning," she quipped.

Nate laughed a bit. "I've got to be excited enough for the both of us."

"Maybe I'm not as giddy as you, but believe me, I'm excited. It's going to be so nice to have this time together alone. I love you, Nate."

"I love you, too."

Elena took a bite of some eggs; they were not quite the same as in the US, but they sure were tasty. Nate grabbed something that was purported to be bacon, although it neither tasted nor looked like any bacon he had ever seen. Still, it was incredibly good. After Nate and Elena had gorged themselves, they got dressed and took the short, 15 minute walk from the Balmoral to Edinburgh Castle, arriving not long after it had opened to the public.

At the door, they were greeted by a man dressed in a kilt, delivering a welcome in the most stereotypical of Scottish accents. "Good day to ye, my good friends, and welcome to the fair city of Edinburgh! We are so honored that you have chosen to bestow your presence upon us!"

Nate faked a grin; he was slightly annoyed by the greeting, and he was eager to get inside. He tried, not very successfully, to ignore him respectfully. As the two of them finally entered, Elena gave Nate a look of disdain. "You know, Nate, he was just doing his job."

Nathan Drake shrugged. "But it was annoying… Where did they find that guy? He's probably not even really Scottish. He sounds like the guy from that Axe Murderer movie."

Elena looked incredibly confused. "What movie has a Scottish axe murderer in it?"

"No, the Scottish guy wasn't the axe murderer. It was a comedy. Oh, never mind. Can we just go experience history now, please?"

Elena rolled her eyes as they walked together into the main hall. The exhibits were breathtaking. History was never boring to Nathan Drake. As he meandered through the exhibits, something interesting caught his eye. "Hey Elena, take a look at this."

Elena came over to find Nate looking at a very old piece of paper. "What is it?"

"It's a note written by William Wallace."

"Oh, you mean the guy who fought for Scottish independence?"

Nathan nodded, "That's the one. Thank you, Mel Gibson for making my wife aware of that bit of history."

"Oh come on! I'm a reporter who searches out uncharted territories. I knew about William Wallace long before Braveheart." Nate gave her a look of disbelief. "The movie just taught me more; that's all..."

Nate ignored Elena's comment and started reading the letter. "This was written by Wallace when he was imprisoned by the English. These are some of the last words that William Wallace ever said, words he wanted the world to live by. He talks about how he was overwhelmed and... wait a minute. What's this?"

Elena's eyebrows dropped as she looked toward her husband. "Nate... You're getting that look on your face."

"What look?"

"The look that says that I'm about to regret your next words."

Nate let the remark slide off his back. "It says here that there was something unexplainable about how he was defeated. The man who betrayed him bore a weapon of unspeakable power that he used to overpower him and, get this... he says it's buried here in the castle!"

Elena shook her head furiously. "No, Nate, no. This is ludicrous. You really think that these guys had some magical weapon that they used against William Wallace? Even if they did, no one has ever mentioned finding it? Not in over 700 years?!"

Nate never appreciated it when Elena got this way. You know, logical. "But we don't have anything else to do. You don't even want to try? You know you love this stuff, Elena."

Bothersome as he was, Nate was right. Elena loved the hunt, and she especially loved the hunt when it was by her husband's side. She'd found more in her life then she'd ever bargained for, but it was what she lived for. And, in truth, what she loved Nate for as well. She feigned irritation, but she was secretly chomping at the bit when she responded. "Fine. Let's have a look around."

The two of them began to casually search the room for anything that seemed unusual. The Great Hall was full of tourists, and they did not want to draw any unwanted attention. After having spent decades perfecting that particular set of skills, it didn't take Nate long to find what he was looking for. He saw some strange indentions in one of the walls that appeared to be slightly discolored.

Nate walked over with Elena to a quiet corner of the room. "We'd have to be pretty dumb to go searching around at a time like this."

"Never stopped you before," Elena responded with a quip.

"Cute," Nate responded, rolling his eyes.

"I love you!" Elena said as she ensnared Nate with a silly, sheepish grin.

The two of them continued to tour the castle while Nate was scheming in his head about how to break into the supposed secret passage. There would be guards at night. He was never afraid to take a life if the situation called for it, but these guys were just run-of-the-mill security on a government payroll.

He was worried, though. Elena could generally take care of herself in a tough spot, but just the two of them would never have any chance of succeeding if they got caught. They would be overwhelmed in seconds. His best friend and mentor, Victor Sullivan, was back in the States resting up from their previous engagement. There's no way he would be able to fly to Edinburgh in time. His good friend Charlie Cutter lived in London, and he could be in Edinburgh in a few hours by train; however, Cutter had recently broken his leg during that last trip they'd been on, and he wouldn't be well again for weeks. Nate mentally thumbed through his contact list, and he eventually arrived on a name he had almost forgotten.

He took out his mobile phone once he was in private and he dialed a local number, "Fiona McAllister, it's Nathan Drake. We've got a job."


	2. Chapter 2

That night, Fiona McAllister came to visit Nate and Elena in their hotel room. She had surprised them by coming in through their window. Elena jumped as she saw the figure enter the room, and Nate's heart skipped a beat as he spoke. "Some people use the door, you know."

"People hiding katanas don't usually use the door. It's good to see you again, though, Nate." Fiona was dressed in a black jumpsuit which covered most of her body, but it was tight-fitting and accentuated her curves. Her deep blue eyes made her stand out, as they were extremely rare on a natural redhead.

Fiona smirked as she pulled away the hood that covered her face. To call Fiona beautiful would be a severe insult. Elena figured that she could have been a model if she'd chosen that life. Despite being told that she had no business doing so, she had long studied the Japanese sword art, _Iaido_. She was an expert thief and an even better swordsman.

Elena looked over at the young woman, wondering about the past between this lady and her husband. It wasn't the first time that she'd rubbed elbows with a striking woman from Nate's past. Why the hell did this keep happening, anyway? She tried to hold back the jealousy, but she was never very good at hiding her emotions. "Hi, I'm Elena, the wife."

Nate heard the irritation in his wife's voice, "I was just about to introduce you, honey! Fiona here is going to be a huge asset to us tonight at the castle. We've worked together before."

"Like how you and Chloe worked together before?"

Nate rolled his eyes. "Don't start, Elena. You know I only have eyes for you!" He swept his hand from Fiona to Elena. "Fi, help me out, here."

Fiona laughed and Elena appreciated the sentiment. "Our relationship has only ever been professional."

Nate interrupted to change the subject. "It's going to be time to go soon. They change the guard at 2:00 AM; the perimeter will be a lot less guarded. When we get there, we'll have to analyze the situation and see about going in through the front, or if we should look for another way in."

Elena grabbed a Colt .45 Defender that was among the firearms that Fiona had brought with her. She stuffed it into her belt and covered it with her black leather jacket. She then tossed Nate a Desert Eagle and motioned towards the door. "Let's get going, then."

Nate and Elena had quickly changed into darker, more loose-fitting clothing. The three of them crept through the darkness, across empty streets, and around broken streetlights. They wound their way to the Edinburgh Castle parking lot and made themselves invisible in the darkness. Nate had timed it perfectly, and there was no one at the front gate to impede their progress. Carefully and quietly, they approached the main entrance.

There were two men guarding the gate. They were not armed. Fiona put her hand on her katana and started to draw it from its scabbard; Nate grabbed her arm and stopped her. "No one gets hurt tonight," he whispered, "and that includes us." He looked over from the main gate and saw another door, at which no one was posted.

Nate moved closer to inspect the door. _Employees Only_ was stenciled across it, and there was a key card slot next to it. Nate returned to the two women, "That's our way in. Fiona, do you think you could lift the key card off of one of them without being noticed?"

Before Nate could even finish his sentence, Fiona was off. A minute later, she returned with the key card in hand. "Yeah, I think I could if I _had_ to," she joked.

They quietly opened the employee entrance, which led into a staging area right next to the Great Hall. Nate leaned in and listened at the door. There were footsteps. More guards. He waited for the sounds to trail away, and then he and the two women swiftly entered the door to the Great Hall.

Without waiting to discuss a plan, Nate jumped up and grabbed the jagged rocks of the castle walls. He pulled himself up to the ceiling, and withdrew a small throwing dagger that he had tucked away. Instead of throwing the knife at a guard, he threw it into wooden signpost on the opposite wall.

"What was that?!" one of the guards bellowed as Nate descended quickly from the wall. Nate, Elena, and Fiona sped over to the weak spot in the wall that they had found earlier. The knife provided a enough of a distraction that they were able to push the wall aside and uncover the secret passage that laid behind it. By the time the guards had approached to search that area, all three of them were gone.

Nate let out a sigh of relief. "Just another day," he said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, now that we're here," Elena began, "let's find out what's down here!"

The three of them descended a set of stairs in the dark. They had each brought decent flashlights, and it was clear that no one had been in this passageway for centuries.

As they passed through the abundance of cobwebs and broken pieces of rock, they eventually reached the room that they had been searching for. The air was stale; it had clearly not circulated through here in hundreds of years. Fiona coughed a bit as her lungs adjusted to it, but she held her hand out and nodded to indicate that she was all right.

They shined their flashlights forward into the room. Directly in front of them was a high pedestal that reached up to Nate's waist. He went over to check it out and Elena followed closely behind while Fiona inspected the other areas of the room.

"What have we here?" Nate asked with a sincere curiosity. On the top of the pedestal, there was a small, rectangular indentation.

Elena looked at it quizzically. "What's this indentation for, Nate? Any ideas?"

Nate shook his head. "I'm not sure. Whatever used to go here has been missing for ages, though. Look at how the cobwebs have built up around it."

Nate's words had piqued Fiona's interest. "Let me take a look." She came over to the pedestal and drew out her katana beside it. She placed the sword over the indentation and showed Nate and Elena what she'd noticed. "This indentation is about the perfect size for a sword, don't you think?"

Nate had to agree. Elena was anxious to learn more as well. "Why do you think someone would take such precautions just to hide a sword away?" she asked to no one in particular.

After Elena said that, Fiona directed their attention elsewhere. She pointed to the back of the room with her flashlight. With it, she illuminated a large painting that was beautifully rendered across the back wall. "Look familiar, Nate?" She smiled because she knew the answer.

Nate lit up like a schoolboy. "The Drake coat of arms! _Sic Parvis Magna_ , his motto! Was Sir Francis really here?" Nate could hardly contain his excitement.

Elena thought it was uncanny how often they seemed to run into remnants of Sir Francis's past. Nathan Drake had claimed to be a distant relative of Francis Drake, but history recorded that the man had had no children. She wasn't sure if she would ever know the truth, but by this point, she didn't really care.

The three of them continued to scour the painting and the rest of the room for clues. Fiona thought the whole thing perplexing. "What was Francis Drake doing here in Scotland?"

Nate replied, "According to some royal record books, Francis Drake was the leader of the group that Queen Elizabeth sent to deal with Mary, Queen of Scots, after she had been accused of conspiring against the crown. It's highly possible that Mary may have been staying in Edinburgh Castle prior to her being found guilty and extradited to England for execution."

Elena's mouth quivered. "Well, that's pleasant."

Fiona spoke up next, "Why did he bother to paint this wall, though? Wouldn't the queen have wanted him to get back as soon as possible?"

"Most likely, yes. I feel like we're missing something here. It doesn't quite add up."

Elena looked very closely at the painting of the Drake Coat of Arms. She had seen it before, but she really felt like there was something different about this one. Then it hit her, "Look, Nate. Aren't there only supposed to be two stars on the shield? This one has three."

"Wow, Elena. You're right, " Drake responded. As she was noticing this, Elena placed her hand on the third, out-of-place, star and felt a groove underneath it. She pushed the groove in. Suddenly, there was a sound of working mechanics coming from behind the wall and a small hole opened up in the floor, leading under the wall.

Nate was ecstatic. "Way to go, Elena! That was some brilliant deductive work."

"Just call me," and then Elena switched to a really terrible British accent, "Sherlock Holmes."

Nate and Fiona grimaced when they heard Elena's horrible attempt, but they shrugged it off quickly. Fiona looked down into the hole under the wall. "That's a really tight space. I don't think that only one of us is going to fit at a time. What do you think we should do?"

Nate was itching to get inside, but he tried to be reasonable. "I guess it's you then, Fi."

Fiona dropped down into the crawl space. She inched her way forward and pushed her flashlight ahead. After a few moments, she found herself in another room.

"Everything all right in there?" Nate yelled through the wall.

"Yeah. Fine. There isn't much here, though. The room looks pretty empty and... wait..." Fiona paused. "There's some parchment here. It's too dark to make it out."

"Bring it back over here," Nate requested. "Let's look at it under all of our flashlights."

Fiona rushed back through the hole into the main room. Nate looked over the parchment as he took it from Fiona and rubbed his fingers over the paper. "This paper feels very odd."

There were letters printed on the parchment that read NAISNIENLGELTETWEORRSD. There was also a caption below, "Burn away nine letters to form a single word."

"It's a riddle," Nate remarked.

"Of course it is…" Elena sighed.

The three of them stared at the letters written across the centuries-old scroll. Fiona grabbed a lighter from her pack, assuming that fire would be important, based on the caption. Nate studied the letters carefully, trying to ascertain a pattern or something that would unlock the mystery.

Elena read the caption out loud again. "Burn away nine letters to form a single word. Look at the letters! If you get rid of every other letter, you remove 'NINE LETTERS' and are left with 'A SINGLE WORD.' That's it! Fiona, give me the lighter." Elena began to place the flame over the letters to be removed, one by one.

After the last letter was burned away, something began to happen beneath the paper. Hidden ink began to appear plain as day. Elena began to read what was revealed. "I have dictated this note to my servant Jonathan Astor. If you seek the Prize of the Scots, you shall find it in the place where I make my last stand. Only a man of honour should face such a task; it should never be in the hands of an army." Elena paused. "Then there are some numbers here."

"They're coordinates," Nate responded. "They map to sectors of a city."

Fiona shrugged. "That's great and all. But what city are they for?"

"Francis Drake disappeared shortly after losing the Battle of San Juan. That's where he made his last stand. Whatever this is, I think he buried it there." He pointed at Fiona. "Quick, find me a map of San Juan from the time of Sir Frances. We need to figure out where we're going."

Fiona pulled out her smartphone and began searching for the map Nate requested. Once she found it, she held it up to him for examination. Nate looked it over and then pointed at a spot on the screen. "Here's where we need to go. Now, let's do some calculations, and figure out what's there in the modern day. Elena, look up 18.4675N, 66.1101W"

Elena was surprised. "Wow, that's really precise, Nate. It appears to be located at the present day Castillo de San Cristóbal. Great; another tourist trap."

"How do we know it's still there?" Fiona questioned.

"Sir Frances has never let us down before," Nate responded unconvincingly. "And anyway, even in the worst case scenario, we get to have a honeymoon in San Juan!"

Elena found it difficult to argue that logic. She smiled with content.

Nate looked to Fiona. "You in?"

"Oh, I'm always in," she responded with pride.

Nate gave a mischievous grin. "And I'll get Sully on the horn tonight. He can meet us in Miami and we can go from there. Knowing Sully, he probably has a contact there that can get us into San Juan without raising any suspicion."

Fiona tapped her hand on the hilt of her katana. "I'm bringing her, you know."

She patted the bag containing her portable HD camera. "And I'm bringing her," she quipped.


	3. Chapter 3

As the plane touched down at Miami International Airport, Fiona let out a huge sigh of relief. She was not used to these globe-trotting treasure hunts like Nate was, and she had almost gotten airsick quite a few times. Thank God for dramamine.

Once she was safely on the ground, she entered the aircraft's bathroom to pull her hair back in a ponytail, and she changed into some khaki shorts. She had the suspicion that things would be much warmer in Miami and San Juan than in Edinburgh.

She was right. The captain had said it was 89 degrees outside. She didn't feel like doing the math to convert that to Celsius, but it sounded hot. She yawned, exhausted from the long trip and looked over across the aisle to see Nate asleep and Elena apparently deep in thought.

Fiona pointed at Nate. "Better wake him," she instructed.

Elena nodded and thumped Nate in the back of the head.

"Hey!" he yelled, startled by the interruption. "I was just getting to the good part!"

"We're here, idiot," Fiona called from her seat.

Nate shook his head. "There's no need for name-calling, Fi." He had a very stern look on his face. Just as Fiona had started to feel remorseful and ready to apologize, Nate burst out laughing.

"You're so gullible!" he commented as the plane pulled into the gate. Fiona was not amused.

After a long bout with carry-on compartments, the three of them finally disembarked the plane. Elena, ever the Type A personality, reiterated their itinerary. "Sully should be landing in about forty-five minutes. We'll meet up with him at his gate, A8. Then, his guy will get us all in the air."

After arriving at the gate, Fiona sat herself down quickly. "Now we wait," she said.

"I hate waiting." Nate had said the thought on everyone's minds. They had actually done pretty well to time their flight's arrival with Sully's, but the half-hour remaining seemed like an eternity. When he did arrive, they all greeted him excitedly.

Sully, as always, was dressed in a colorful Havana shirt. He greeted Elena with a hug and Nate with a big slap on the back. "Long time no see, kid," he began, "Ready to go see what else your ancestor has cooked up for us?"

Drake nodded and Fiona cleared her throat. Sully looked over at her, "And this must be the beautiful and talented Fiona McAllister?"

Elena pointed a finger at him jokingly, "Hey, I thought _I_ was the beautiful and talented one?" Her question went unnoticed.

Fiona smirked. "I've heard so much about you, Mr. Sullivan."

Sully looked over at Nate. "That's unfortunate," he jested. "And, by the way, please call me Sully. No one in a floral-patterned Havana shirt is 'Mr. Sullivan'."

"Point taken," replied Fiona with a grin.

Nate clasped his hands together. "So, this is all very fascinating and all, but don't we have a plane to catch?"

"Right this way!" instructed Sully as he motioned ahead of him and to the right. "We'll be out of here in no time."

Elena grimaced. "Well, great. Now you've gone and jinxed it."

The four of them left the main terminal and went out to catch another plane. Nate was paranoid, consistently thinking he had heard footsteps behind him. "It feels like we're being followed," he thought out loud.

"Relax, Nate," Sully answered, "Who can hide well enough to follow us in this open air field?"

"Professionals, Sully. That's who."

Fiona put one hand on the handle of her katana and the other hand against her sidearm. Their plane was clearly visible by now, but Nate was right; something was very wrong here. As they continued towards the plane, she drew both weapons. "No one knows about this flight, do they, Sully?"

"Just the pilot," Sully replied, "But I'm starting to agree with you. Fiona, make for the plane. I'm going to cover you from the rear. Nate and Elena, fan out to the sides and see if you see anything."

Nate did not like taking orders from Sully, but he did not really have a choice in the matter at the moment. He ran off to the right while his wife ran off in the opposite direction. Fiona ran ahead towards the plane, her katana drawn and ready for action. Sully pulled his Magnum, and started searching the area.

Moments later, Fiona reached the plane. Even from many yards away, Sully could see her look of disgust. "The pilot's dead!"

Nate made an acrobatic roll across the ground and dove behind a wooden crate next to the runway. "Shit, Sully! What's going on here?!" Then, the first few bullets began to ricochet off their plane.

"Sully! Get down!" Fiona yelled as she searched the area for the hidden assailants.

"Oh crap!" Nate yelled as he pointed his Desert Eagle in the general direction of the gunfire.

Sully had started running for the plane; he was a sitting duck on that runway. He lowered himself as close to the ground as possible and moved as quickly as his old, tired legs could carry him. Elena fired a few stray shots into the distance, trying to draw fire away from Sully. It worked. Four bullets flew through the air and crashed into the wooden crates she was hiding behind. Tiny splinters of wood sprayed the area and she dropped to the asphalt, clinging to the last remnants of cover she could use.

By this time, Fiona had pulled herself up into the plane. She dragged the lifeless body of the pilot from his seat and tossed it onto the ground next to her. "Nothing personal," she reassured herself. She sat herself down in the pilot's chair and looked at the knobs and dials in front of her. "Well, it'd be nice if I knew how to fly," she thought aloud.

At that instant, Sully had pulled himself into the plane from the other side. "At least one of us does," he told her. Fiona jumped out of the pilot's seat and ran to the back of the plane. She opened up a window and pointed her gun. They still did not see a single soul. Sully dropped into the pilot's seat and pushed the yoke forward. The plane moved down the runway towards Nate and Elena.

Nate looked across the open field to where Elena was standing. He had to get her to safety, even if that meant that he did not make it himself. Without waiting for the "right moment", Nate sprinted across the runway, drawing fire from every direction. He darted in and out of whatever cover he could find, trying to make himself harder to hit. When he was about fifty meters from this wife, he finally caught a glimpse of one of his attackers. He pulled his trigger and the .50 caliber bullet pierced the chest of a man through his fine silk suit. "Hang on, Elena!"

As the plane continued to draw nearer to Nate and Elena, Fiona had gotten a glimpse of another of their attackers, and she put him down quickly with a bullet to his side. Sully got a concerned look on his face and addressed Fiona. "I can't grab them and pull up in time to make it! You're going to have to get them here somehow."

Fiona's eyes narrowed and she wrapped her face in black cloth. It did not matter to her that she was running in broad daylight — she intended to be invisible. She quickly leapt out of the moving airplane and darted towards Elena, approaching from the opposite direction as Nate. She watched as an assailant appeared behind Nate and Elena; they had missed him in all of the commotion. Without a word, she drew her katana and thrust it into the man's back.

"Thanks for that!" Elena yelled as she saw Fiona coming.

"You can thank me later, but we have to get on that plane!"

Nate caught up to Elena, grabbed her by the hand, and began to run towards the still-moving aircraft. He and Fiona blindly fired random shots into the air around them to try and cover their escape. They still had no idea who they were dealing with, or why the gunmen had been there in the first place. As they the sun hid behind a cloud, they were able to see the plane's approach.

What they did not see, however, was the sniper that had them in his sights. As his finger inched toward the trigger, he lined up the shot directly on Nate's head. "Mission accomplished, Nathan Dra—"

Smoke rose from Sully's gun as he watched Nate, Elena, and Fiona jump into the plane with him. "Aren't you ever going to get tired of me saving your butt, Nate?"

Nate shrugged. "I think the official score is that you still owe me two, Sully."

Sully shook his head, "What about that time in Jakarta?"

"You know that doesn't count! I could have easily gotten the antidote!"

Fiona looked over at Elena, "Are they always like this?"

Elena rolled her eyes as the small passenger plane lifted off the runway. "All the time..."


	4. Chapter 4

Sully leaned back in the pilot's chair, pointing at the radar screen in front of him. "Well, we should be safe now. There are no other aircraft anywhere near that hangar."

Nate was still worried. "Sully, who the hell were those guys? How did they know about our flight?"

"I have no idea, kid. Did anyone get a good look at any of them?"

Fiona wiped some blood off her katana and shook her head.

"Damn it!" Nate yelled. "Who out there would want me dead?"

Sully laughed, "You really want a list, kid?"

"That was a rhetorical question."

"Whoever it is, they knew how to get to our pilot. If they found the pilot, then they probably know where he was taking us, too," Elena mentioned.

Nate agreed, "We'd better watch our backs in San Juan. I have a feeling that this is going to get really ugly."

Sully continued flying the plane with the course set for San Juan. From Miami, it was a relatively short flight, but everyone was tense with the recent problems. No one spoke for quite some time. They were busy reloading guns, cleaning weapons, and generally preparing for the onslaught that likely awaited them at Luis Muñoz Marín airport outside San Juan. Nate wondered if someone actually knew they were after some ancient weapon, or if they were just after him.

People hated Nate. He was better at what he did than most people, and they hated him for it. Nate and Sully had experienced plenty of close calls, but they'd always come through relatively unscathed. He was really glad that Sully was with him in that moment. They had been together through so much; it was a real privilege to know the man. And, of course, Elena... Where would he be without her? Nate had not always been the best kind of man to her, but she understood that. She got him. Nate certainly never intended to fall in love, but Elena was one of a kind. Nate laughed to himself; maybe he had been beaten after all. Elena was the one person that was always better than he.

Fiona, on the other hand, did not have the strong history with the others that they shared amongst themselves. She and Nate had met one time in London. She did not understand what Nate wanted, but she helped him find it. They had both answered a "want ad", but not the kind that you put in the papers. A rich playboy, originally from Madrid, named Alec Estuardo had hired them to acquire any kind of maps and journals from the Elizabethan Era that they could.

The two of them had recovered a map that led to the burial site of Francis Drake who was supposedly buried at sea. Nate proposed that he would go and sell the map to Estuardo and he would split the payment with Fiona, but Nate actually kept the map for himself. He paid Fiona her share and took the map, and with it, discovered the location of El Dorado.

Nate had never been proud of what he did to Fiona, but at the time it felt right. That was also before he met Elena. He would never dream of doing something like that again. Still, He would have to come clean with Fiona at some point soon. Hopefully, he would find the right time.

"Nate!" The sound of Elena's voice awakened Nate from his stupor. "I asked if you had booked us a hotel in San Juan."

"Oh, sorry. No, I haven't yet. I wasn't sure how long we were staying."

"We are going to have to be ready to move on a moment's notice," said Sully. "It's probably best if we play it by ear. We'll be landing soon; our former pilot had a contact at the airport that would have allowed us to avoid customs and other unpleasantries. I'm not so sure what we are going to do now."

Fiona looked down at her katana. "Yeah. I've heard that customs agents aren't too fond of swords and guns."

"There's got to be a way to still get our gear into the country without drawing suspicion," Nate said, "What if we look for a place to land outside of the airport?"

Sully shook his head, "No good, kid. This little puddle jumper won't hold up against the uneven ground. We need pavement."

Elena saw something out the window that made her shout with joy. "Sully! Look over there, to the southeast. It looks like an old, abandoned road. It won't be super smooth, but it's pavement!"

"I see it! Nice job, Madam Reporter. Let's bring this bird into its nest."

Nate shot Sully a look of confusion. "What?"

"Never mind. I'm just trying to sound clever, Nate!"

"Could have fooled us…"

As the plane circled around to its new destination, something came over the radio in Spanish. It was a request from the flight tower to explain why they had turned away from the airport.

"Uhh.. No habla español," Nate lied.

That did not divert the efforts of the Puerto Rican flight tower. "This is air traffic control for Luis Muñoz Marin. Please state why you have turned away from the airport. Are you in need of assistance?"

Fiona responded in German. She was hoping it might buy them some time. The likelihood that they would understand her was very low, and she was banking on this. The control tower said something in Spanish about how they could not understand them, and then they let up for a few moments.

"That's good thinking, Fiona," Nate began, "But that won't hold them forever. Once they actually get to where they have visual contact with our aircraft, they'll be able to see American markings on it."

"Nate," Sully answered with a subdued voice, "You're forgetting something very important here." He paused for a moment for dramatic effect. "Efficiency. These guys don't have it. They're not going to waste time on something as insignificant as us. Trust me, once we land this thing, they'll forget all about us."

Elena smiled, "Ahh, apathy. Our most beloved ally."

After that bit of banter, Sully got to work landing the plane on the abandoned road. Just as Sully predicted, they never heard from the air traffic controller again. He lined up the plane with the makeshift runway and began to drop his altitude quickly.

Nate looked over at Elena and Fiona, "Hold on to your butts, ladies. This could be a bumpy landing." Elena and Fiona strapped themselves into their seats and Nate joined Sully by sitting in the co-pilot's seat. Sully was a decent pilot, but he was not exactly used to landing on city streets. Nate girded himself. It was time.

The unkempt asphalt drew closer and closer in their view as they all braced for impact. Sully was holding on to the yoke, and the other three were grabbing onto chairs and whatever else they could find. The plane hit down hard, the edge of the wheels slid across grass that surrounded the road. Nate looked back to check on his wife and Fiona; they seemed fine, at least for the moment. As the plane barreled down the street, up ahead, they were starting to run out of road. Large palm trees loomed overhead, a hazard that seemed all too likely.

Nate tried to stand, his hands holding tightly to his seat to steady himself. "We need to be ready to jump if we're running out of road!" He started to inch his way to the door. "Elena, Fiona, come up towards me, one at a time. I'll catch you!"

Even in the darkest moments, Sully had his wits about him, "What about me, Nate? Am I going to fall lovingly into your arms?"

Nate responded with a quip of his own. "Beauty is always before age on my planes, Sully."

"Who says this is your plane?"

The three of them made their way to the door with Nate. They were locking arms, trying to stay upright amongst all the turbulence and commotion. Nate saw the trees about to burst through the plane, and so he jumped out onto the road. "Geronimo!"

He rolled on the ground, smashing up his shoulder as he hit a nearby palm. His arms scraped against the asphalt and blood trickled down them towards his elbows. He stood up slowly and gained his footing, preparing to run towards the crashing plane.

At that exact moment, it stopped moving. Nate looked in disbelief at the motionless plane, watching as its passengers were preparing to disembark. "Are you kidding me?! I just jumped out of a moving plane for nothing?!"

Elena was descending the stairs calmly as she looked at her husband with a fake look of concern. "Oh, you poor, poor man!"

Nate picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off. "I guess that could have been worse," he resigned. He loaded his Desert Eagle and pointed off to the northwest. "The fort is that way. We should try and find a main road to call a taxi or something."

Fiona pointed at the aircraft and looked over at Nate. "What are we going to do with the plane? We can't just leave it here. If someone finds it, they could track it back to us. It'd be hard, but possible."

Nate shrugged. "I don't know what we can do. We don't even know if it'll fly again. If this were an old sitcom, we could cover it with palm leaves and no one would ever notice it. Unfortunately, though..."

Sully spoke in a gruff tone to get everyone's attention. "We don't have time to deal with this! Whoever was shooting at us in Miami no doubt followed us here. We have to get to that fort, if only to blend in with the public."

"All right, leave the plane," Elena agreed. "Let's get going."


	5. Chapter 5

The four of them went out to the main road and caught a taxi into town. Fortunately, Central American cab drivers are not too concerned with the luggage carried by their passengers. They were able to ride around with suitcases full of firearms without a worry on their minds. They arrived at the Castillo de San Cristóbal without issue, tipped the driver quite well, and opened the trunk to retrieve their bags.

"What're we going to do with all of this luggage?" Elena asked.

"That's a great question," Fiona responded. "We need to find a hotel. We can't just waltz in to a public tourist attraction with a small weapons stockpile."

Nate had already thought about that. "We're going to need someone to stay behind with the luggage. We can't do anything in broad daylight anyway; we'll need to break in after they're closed."

"Yeah, but we don't know what we're looking for. We need to scope out the place to see if we can figure out where Sir Francis would have hidden this ancient relic, or whatever it is."

Nate nodded. "I know. I think that two of us need to scope out the place and two of us need to get us a motel room where we can store our stuff until we're done."

Fiona smiled and pointed at Nate and Sully, "Well then, you two better grab those suitcases and get moving."

Nate was not happy with that arrangement. "What?! Are you crazy? Look, no offense, but Sully and I have way more experience spotting these kinds of things than you two."

"But you two have a serious lack of class and feminine wiles. Something that Elena and I both excel in."

Nate rolled his eyes, but he was ultimately in agreement. It was very likely that the men who worked in such places would be staggered by a beautiful blond American and a gorgeous Scottish redhead. They probably did not see either of them very often.

"All right," Nate conceded, "you win this round. You two head inside while Sully and I get our base of operations set up, so-to-speak. We'll have our phones turned on. Send us a text when you find anything out."

"Of course, sweetie," Elena answered with an air of arrogance. She was excited to finally be the one Nate could count on. She wanted to prove to Nate just how capable she could be.

They packed up their luggage and shoved it off to Nate and Sully. Sully was not quite as irritated as Nate; he seemed content to just go with the flow.

Elena put on a pair of large, dark sunglasses and a straw hat; she was really intent on looking the part of the tourist. Fiona thought it best to not be completely vulnerable inside, so she hid her katana inside of her clothes and prayed that they did not have metal detectors.

They didn't. Elena and Fiona made their way into the park and paid the entrance fee. "Please enjoy this important piece of Puerto Rican history!" said a nondescript voice from somewhere. Elena smiled and nodded. This was her time to shine.

When they were alone inside, Elena turned to Fiona. "We've got to figure out where this thing would be hidden. Any ideas?"

Fiona shrugged her shoulders. "Not really. Let's just look around and see what we see."

"You know, I bet the tour guides here have an idea of the types of things that may be secret or important or what have you. Maybe we should just take a guided tour and see what we see?"

Fiona's face was hard to read. "It certainly couldn't hurt to try. Let's see what they know."

The two of them walked around the main grounds, carrying maps and looking awestruck. They knew how to play their part, and Nate and Sully would sure appreciate that. The ladies made their way to the information desk and approached the one in which the instructions were written in English. Elena pushed her sunglasses up to rest above her forehead and addressed the man at the counter. "Excuse me, sir. My friend and I would like a guided tour, please."

Elena laid the courtesy and charm on very thick. The skinny young man in his late teens was helpless against her. "Well, ma'am, you just missed the tour, and we do not have any others going until 3:00. However, it would be my pleasure to personally guide the two of you and show you both all the exciting secrets of the history of San Cristóbal."

Fiona joined in the act and pretended to be floored by his generosity. "Oh my, that's so wonderful!" she exclaimed. "That would really make my day."

The boy was immediately smitten again. "Wow, we don't get many Scots around here. I- it's such an honor to be able to assist such charming ladies as yourselves."

Fiona and Elena giggled; they had the guy hook, line, and sinker. If this guy knew anything, they would definitely be able to get it out of him.

Meanwhile, a few miles down the road, Nate and Sully had discovered an adequate hotel to serve as their base of operations. Neither of them had talked about how they planned to break into the fort that night, but they were both weighing the options through their heads dozens of times. Nate and Sully had been running together for so long that they hardly needed to talk through plans anymore. They were almost always thinking the same thing.

They got the group a few rooms and immediately took their "luggage" upstairs to get it away from prying eyes. Nate wiped the sweat from his brow. Pulling heavy suitcases down the hallway during a Puerto Rican summer was not his idea of fun. In any case, Nate knew that he and Sully would need to start strategizing soon. Elena and Fiona would be back from scoping out San Cristóbal soon, and they would have to be ready to react to whatever information the ladies brought back.

Sully came in to Nate's room, his shirt drenched in sweat. "Hey Nate, remind me again why we agreed to carry all the luggage."

"To avoid a woman's scorn and all that?"

"Oh, right," Sully added. "Anyway, let's get down to business. Not only do we have to plan a break-in, but we've got to figure out who those guys were in Miami, and whether or not they've decided to hang out in San Juan as well."

"Honestly, I thought we would have heard from these guys by now."

As if on cue, the first couple of gunshots echoed through the floors below them as soon as Nate had finished with his sentence. Sully threw open a suitcase and pulled out a revolver and a belt lined with bullets. "Well, you don't say?!"

Nate grabbed his desert eagle and ran for the door. "Oh crap; I hate always being right!"


	6. Chapter 6

Elena and Fiona smiled at the young man who had, as required, gotten changed into 18th century military garb. He smiled back and cleared his throat. He was obviously nervous, but he was certainly doing his best to impress the beautiful women standing in front of him.

"Come, my friends! Let us delve into the hallowed halls of San Cristóbal!" As he said this, he was waving his arms around as though he were telling a ghost story. Elena and Fiona really did not understand his methods nor his purposes, but they played along in order to get the information they required.

The tour guide started in the center of the fort, explaining the architectural styles that the Spanish employed to ensure that their fort would hold off any intruders, especially those pesky Englishmen. San Cristóbal was the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the new world. Elena and Fiona feigned interest as best they could, but they were only mildly interested in the architecture. Elena was a little more interested; she generally loved history and found its secrets fascinating. This stuff, however, was available to anyone who spent five minutes on Wikipedia.

Elena decided to make a comment to that effect. "Excuse me," she paused to read the young man's nametag, "Raul. This is all very interesting, but I'm the kind of girl who really fawns over history. I'm sure you know a host of secrets about the fort, and I would really love to get a better idea of what those were!"

Elena laid the flirtation on really thick. She knew Nate would not mind if it meant them reaching their goal. Raul perked up; she still had it. "Personally, ma'am, I've always found the dungeons to be the most interesting thing here. The walls have been made famous by the special paintings made by soldiers hundreds of years ago. And, to boot, they did them with almost no light at all!"

Fiona recognized a clue when she heard one, so she continued to add fuel to the fire. "What a fascinating tale! We would love to go and see these paintings!"

Elena concurred, "Absolutely! Can we please go and see the dungeon now?"

Raul looked a bit uneasy, "Well, we're not supposed to see those until the end of the tour, but... sure! Why not? What's the harm in that?"

Elena and Fiona were now genuinely excited. Nate had said that the fort was likely built over the hiding place that Frances Drake had originally set up, and that meant that a dungeon would be a very likely place to hide an entrance to someplace underground. They followed eagerly as the tour guide led them through the fort's tunnel system, and into the one that wound its way around to the dungeons.

When they reached their destination, Raul halted and turned to face the women he was guiding. He mustered up his best tour guide tone and began to read off the part of the memorized script that dealt with the dungeons. "Ladies and gentlemen; well, just ladies, I suppose; welcome to the famous dungeons of the Castillo de San Cristóbal. Step forward and we'll take a look at the paintings."

Elena ducked as she entered the dungeons. They were not exactly designed for comfort. She peered through the lighted area and saw them: several beautifully-done paintings of various sailing ships of the era. She stepped closer, hoping that her tour guide would not protest. "They're so... What's the word... majestic."

Raul nodded and started pointing at the different paintings to explain their known history, but Elena was not interested in that at the moment. She knew that whatever legitimate secrets they hid, if any, would not be on the tour guide's script. Then, she saw it. One of the ships was one she had seen numerous times before, the Golden Hind, flagship of Sir Frances Drake. This was what she was searching for.

Elena glanced over at Fiona to see if she had made the same discovery. Instead, Fiona appeared to be enthralled with what Raul was saying. Of course it was a ruse, but the situation allowed Elena to investigate the Golden Hind painting more closely. Just as Elena got within a few feet of the wall, Raul stopped his speech. Fiona knew she had to act quickly to give Elena just a little more time. "So," she began, in a tone intended to feign interest, "Could you describe how these dungeons were used?"

Elena stepped back a bit, worried that Raul would catch her in the act. He did not. He merely continued to discuss what little he did know as a tour guide, but it was ultimately enough to give Elena a chance to further inspect the painting. As she did, she noticed that something about the wall upon which it was painted felt odd. This had to be the clue she was looking for.

As Elena backed away, he heard Raul close with, "And the Spaniards had no idea!"

Fiona produced a fake smile, "That is so very fascinating."

Elena motioned to Fiona letting her know that she got the information she needed. "Well, thanks so much for this lovely tour," Elena said.

"B-but... I'm not even halfway done yet."

"Oh, no, we couldn't impose any more. You've done so much for us already."

"Actually, I would really like to keep showing you around and—"

Elena interrupted him, "No, no, we insist! Thanks, Raul!"

With that, Elena and Fiona quickly walked away, as Raul called after them, feeling like he had lost his chances with them forever.

()()()()

"It's not my fault!" Nate yelled as another bullet flew past him. He threw himself up against the hallway wall and peeked around the corner. The hotel manager had been shot and was lying limp on the lobby floor. The desk clerk's body was slumped over the front desk, lying next to the phone that was beeping loudly from being off the hook. He had tried to call the police but did not make it in time.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is, Nate! We have to deal with these guys." Sully bounced out from behind the hallway and laid down cover fire across the lobby. _Damn_ , he thought, he did not get a good look at where the gunmen were holing up. He dropped down behind the front desk for cover, and checked the clerk's pulse. Nothing.

Sully popped his head up over the counter draw their fire. A man dressed in black and carrying an AK-47 dashed across the room towards the desk. Nate dropped out from the behind the hallway and fired, putting a slug right through his head. The man fell to the ground, and his AK-47 slid across the floor, a few feet away from his position.

"Nice shot!" Sully yelled from behind the desk. Nate saw the assault rifle and knew it would be his ticket out of here. He ran out from behind the hallway, dropped quickly towards the ground, and rolled forward, grabbing the AK on the way. He then dove behind the front desk just as a bullet pierced the carpet right next to his left foot.

"Whew. Too close," Nate said as he positioned himself next to Sully. "We've got to take one of these guys and figure out why these jerks are after us."

Sully agreed, "Yeah. Definitely. Did you have a plan for accomplishing this?"

"Working on it."

"How many of them are left?"

"I think there are three; at least, that I saw. Sully, why don't you run out to the right and take care of those guys with the AK? I'll move around to the left and capture the other guy from behind while he's focused on you. It should be foolproof."

"Nate, with you, nothing's foolproof."

Nate rolled his eyes. Sully smirked and looked over to Nate. Nate held up three fingers and he began to count down. The plan worked flawlessly. The three remaining attackers had not expected Nate and Sully to both come out from behind the counter, in opposite directions. Sully took the offensive and drew all the attention (and gunfire) to himself. Fortunately, he was a lot better shot than they were. He put two of the assailants down quickly and brandished the AK at the other one.

"Freeze!" he yelled. "Drop the gun on the floor and kick it over to me."

The assailant did not look very eager to comply. He placed the gun on the floor, but then he made a move to kick it back up into his hands. However, he did not count on Nate being right behind him. Nate kicked him behind the knee, causing him to completely lose his footing. He placed the barrel of his Desert Eagle right up against his forehead.

"I don't think you'll want to try that again," Nate said.

Sully kept the AK trained on him as Nate grabbed him from behind. Sully began the interrogation, "What do you want from us? Who sent you? Why?"

The guy was obviously a rookie. His wits and resolve were no match for the lifetime of training that Sully had endured. "Please, please, sir. Don't kill me."

Nate pressed the barrel of his pistol hard against the man's temple, trying to act tougher than he actually was. "Tell us what we need to know, and we won't have to! Now, like the nice man said, who sent you?!"

The man starting shivering with fear. A wet stain appeared on the front of his pants. "Look man, I'm sorry. I... honestly don't know!"

Nate brought the Desert Eagle back and swung it at the man's forehead, stopping just short of hitting him with it. "What do you mean you don't know? Who sent you? It's an easy question!"

"I work for a man named Sellers. He gave us the job, but I have no clue who hired us. I just get the paycheck and don't ask questions..."

Sully moved in closer to close the gap between himself and his enemy. "Where is he now?"

The man shrugged. "I think he was headed to the historical district. We were supposed to rendezvous at the airport tomorrow. He said that our mission was done once we took you guys out in the hotel."

Nate was getting furious by this point. "So someone wants us dead and we still don't know who. If this Sellers guy was headed to the historical district, then Fiona and Elena could be in danger. Sully, we've got to get over there."

"What'll we do with _him_?" Sully asked in a sinister tone.

"The guy's a piece of trash. Set him out by the road."

Sully smacked the young man with the butt of his AK and they dragged him to the dumpster and locked him inside. He would be going out with the garbage, where he belonged. After that, Nate and Sully called the police to come clean up the mess at the motel. They grabbed their luggage (again) and headed out into the streets.


	7. Chapter 7

Nate and Sully arrived back at San Cristóbal just as Elena and Fiona were leaving. Elena looked puzzled. "What're you two doing back already? Weren't you supposed to be getting us rooms?"

Nate shook his head forcefully. "Those guys in Miami? Yeah, they came back."

"What?!" Elena shouted.

"They came after us and I think they were coming here to find you two. Did you guys see anything suspicious?"

"Not at all," replied Fiona, "Everything here was definitely routine."

"Why are these guys so interested in us?"

"Maybe they thought they had a better chance of making an ambush at a small, no security hotel than at a national landmark protected by the US government," Nate added, then he changed the subject. "Did you ladies have any luck?"

Elena's mood shifted quickly. "I think we know where Sir Francis Drake hid his little present."

Nate pumped his fist in excitement. "Awesome job, ladies! Did you get any kind of a sense of their security here?"

Fiona answered, "There isn't much to speak of; however, it sounds like we may have more than just park security to contend with here."

"Whatever the case, we have got to find out what Sir Francis buried here all those centuries ago. We also have to be ready for the possibility that whoever is after us is after the treasure, too."

Fiona felt a little out of place. Although she had worked with Nate before, Sully and Elena were still very new to her. Obviously, these three had a rapport amongst themselves that she just did not share. At least, not yet. Maybe things were destined to change on this trip.

Fiona had left home at an early age. Tired of her parents' constant fighting, she disappeared from the Glasgow slum she grew up in at the age of fifteen. Already accustomed to a life of poverty and degradation, she learned how to survive on the streets and became an expert thief in very little time. By age seventeen, she had become one of Edinburgh's most wanted. She gave away almost everything she stole. She used it to repay hospitality to all the little people who helped her survive on the streets, both in Edinburgh where she currently lived and in Glasgow where she made her start. Her friends and cohorts called her "the Hood" because she stole from the rich and gave to the poor.

Elena had grown to really like Fiona after watching her in action inside San Cristóbal. She also, by way of woman's intuition, noticed that she had began to trail off from their conversation. "Hey, Fiona. Everything all right?" she asked.

"Oh. Sorry, everything is fine. I was just daydreaming, I guess. So, sorry if I missed it... What's the plan?"

Nate responded first, "We hadn't really talked about it much. We need to stick together, though. This guy Sellers will be here soon, and he won't be alone."

Sully pulled out a cigar, but then he noticed the nearby sign indicating that smoking was not allowed. He placed it temporarily in his shirt pocket and looked over at Fiona. "How are we going to get inside?"

"I had an idea. If we can manage to plant a cell phone somewhere in the security office, we can leave it and then call it tonight. Judging by what Elena said, these guys will probably drop everything to 'investigate.'"

Elena agreed. "That sounds plausible. Who's gonna plant that phone?"

Almost immediately, everyone looked at Fiona. "Who, me?"

"Of course, you!" Nate reassured her, "You've got the quickest hands on the British Isles."

Elena gave Nate a very nasty look at this comment. "Oh come on, Elena. You know what I mean!"

Fiona and Elena had a laugh at Nate's expense. Sully was enjoying it as well. Fiona smiled, glad to be part of the moment. "All right. All right. I'll do it. This'll be a piece of cake."

Nate gave her his phone and pointed her towards the security office. She strolled casually over to it; it was located right next to the main gate. Nate, Sully, and Elena all dispersed so that they would not be seen together by any security guards. Fiona arrived at the security office window, careful not to make eye contact with her friends during her approach. Quickly, her eyes darted around the room, looking for any clues she could latch onto to make her distraction more useful. She also wanted to try and address the guard that would be the easiest to distract.

There was a middle-aged, slightly overweight man in the corner. He had no wedding ring on, and he was reading some sort of science magazine. She couldn't see the cover, but she assumed it was something like Popular Science or National Geographic. Even if she did see it, she was not very well-versed on American magazines anyway. However, his name badge read Jason, so it was likely that he was actually from the contiguous 48 states as opposed to being a Puerto Rican native. She had found her target.

"Excuse me, sir," she began. She was using every trick in the woman's playbook to make this guy putty in her hands. "Do you have a lost and found here?"

"Nope." He did not even look up from his magazine. Surely he would have noticed the gorgeous creature in front of him?

"Umm... well, is it located in a different building?" She pressed him.

"Nope."

Fiona felt like a failure, but then she thought harder. All she needed to do was to create a distraction good enough to leave the phone behind. It did not appear that anything was going to get him to look up from his magazine, so she just decided to toss it gently under a nearby desk. "Okay. Well, thanks anyway." She responded politely so as not to raise suspicion, not that it would have mattered. The man just nodded and stayed focused on his magazine.

Fiona walked away quickly, pretending to walk off toward the main gate, but then veering back toward the parking lot once she was out of sight. Nate, Sully, and Elena, even though they were separated, were paying attention and all met up together with Fiona.

Elena began the line of questioning first, "How did it go? Did you get the phone planted?"

Fiona furrowed her brow, and then glanced down at the ground. "Yes, I did plant the phone."

Nate was a little worried by her tone. "Did something happen?"

Fiona looked down at herself and then rested her hands on her hips. She brought her eyes up to meet Nate's. "No, I just thought I was hotter than I guess I actually am."

Nate looked really confused by that response. "Well, at least the phone is planted. Now, what say we find a place somewhere to rest? Hopefully, one that does not involve bullets flying past our heads."

Elena nodded, "Sounds good to me, Nate, but... is anyone else hungry?"

Sully answered quickly, "Yes, I'm starving! Let's find a taco stand or something, pronto!"

Nate smiled just as he heard his stomach growl. "Tacos it is!"


	8. Chapter 8

The summer sun had just finished making its way beneath the clouds. The moon was new and the absence of its light provided Nate and his friends with better cover. He was doing his best to prepare for the likelihood that someone was coming for him that night, but he had not run into anyone all afternoon.

Most of all, he was worried about Elena. Even with as much as he joked about it, Nate cared for Elena more than he could ever possibly put into words. Sully had helped him realize that recently. The last thing Nate would want to do is to throw away this second chance they'd had by putting her in unnecessary danger. Elena probably felt like this was an opportunity to get closer to him. Maybe she wanted this.

Sully could see that Nate was having some sort of inner monologue. He stopped what he was doing for a moment and turned to Nate. "Hey, you okay, kid?"

Nate looked over at his wife and smiled. "Yeah, Sully. I'm doing just fine."

Sully was glad to see Nate so happy. It was certainly not in his nature to show that, though. He thought he would try to get Nate's mind off whatever was occupying it so densely. "Well, Nate, it's go time. You ready to make this call?"

Nate turned his attention to the matter at hand. "Absolutely, Sully. So, what I'll do is call my phone and see if anyone picks up. If they do, I will try and go back to the security desk to get it. I'll cause whatever havoc is necessary to throw the security guards' attention away from the main gate, and you guys can slip in. Once you guys are inside, I'll need you to find me an entrance."

Fiona grabbed her gear and slung it over her shoulder. "Got it. It'll be just like old times." Elena looked at Fiona and grabbed her gear as well. "And new times," she added.

Sully started for the door. "Then let's get to it."

Nate grabbed Sully's phone and called his own to start the little charade. Everything went according to plan. It was almost too easy, and that bothered Nate just a little. He got his phone back from the security office after they were all too willing to have him come and claim it, and then Sully dropped him a rope to get up a wall on the outside. As Nate dropped down the other side, he was greeted by his companions.

"That was almost too easy," he said.

"In my experience," Sully began, "There's no such thing as 'too easy.' Just accept it, and let's move on."

Elena pointed toward the dungeons that she and Fiona had visited earlier that day. "The entrance is that way, I'm sure of it. There is a dungeon below the surface of the fort which is famous for its paintings of ships. One of those ships is..."

"The Golden Hind!" Nate finished.

"Exactly! The passageway beneath the dungeon must be somewhere near that painting."

"Let's be cautious, though," Sully forewarned. "We know this Sellers guy is looking for us. He might be hiding somewhere in San Cristóbal, and he won't be alone."

Nate agreed and they all prepared for the worst but hoped for the best. Elena led them down to the dungeons and, thanks to some high-beam flashlights, they eventually found their way to the room with the paintings. Nate indicated that he wanted to go first; Elena did not argue. This place gave her the creeps.

Sully motioned the ladies forward with the intent to bring up the rear. "Everyone, have your guns at the ready. We don't know what we will find down here."

Nate was feeling around the painting on the wall, looking for something out of the ordinary. Eventually, his hand rested on a specific brick. "Well then, let's find out."

Nate pushed the brick into the wall, and the wall began to creak as it slid magically away, revealing a descending staircase. Nate's happiness was impossible to contain as he watched the beam from his flashlight dance off the stone staircase below. He tried to minimize the outer effects of his excitement by changing the subject, "Good thing Cutter's not here."

Sully laughed. "Yeah. That guy would have a heart attack in these close quarters."

Elena chimed in as well, "Charlie Cutter must be the only treasure hunter in the world who is claustrophobic. Oh well, I hope his leg is healing nicely."

Nate answered her, "He's in a nice hospital there in London, and Chloe is keeping a close eye on him. He'll be fine."

As often was the case, Fiona kept quiet. She had heard of Cutter, but she'd never met the man. It was kind of funny that, as the only other Brit in their circle, she had not met him. She felt confident that would change in the near future. Maybe once they found this "extraordinary weapon", she could stop by London and see him.

Elena moved her flashlight beam from side to side. "This certainly is a long way down."

"That's how you know it'll be worth it!" Nate responded.

Nate could tell that Sully was uneasy. Before Nate could ask him about it, Sully spoke up. "Hey guys. Has anyone else noticed that, for a stairwell that hasn't been used in centuries, the air is not in the least bit stale or thin. I'm thinking someone has been here. Recently."

Nate stopped for a moment and turned to face the others. "We may not be alone down here."

"Is it possible there has just been an air leak through the fake wall?" Elena asked.

Nate shook his head. "Not likely. There are probably hundreds of tourists through here every day, as well as the normal employees that tour the area often. If there was an air leak, this place would have been found ages ago and whatever is down here would now be part of the tour."

"Well, we've got to keep moving anyway," Sully began, "Whatever is down here is about to make us very rich, and I bet we are pretty close to the bottom."

The four of them kept moving down the long stairwell. They each kept their flashlights and handguns at the ready. Fiona was very eager to pull out her beloved blade.

After walking down for nearly fifteen minutes, the staircase ended abruptly into a large, open room. In the center of the room, seven statues stood in front of seven pressure plates cut into the floor. Nate fashioned a torch from some sticks that he had brought with him in his pack, and used it to light the way forward.

"It looks like an old church," he remarked as he approached the statues. At each end of the line of statues, there was a large pyre. He lit them and the entirety of the room came into focus in a roaring blaze of fire.

Elena noticed something etched into the ground. "Hey guys, there's something inscribed here. 'At the Genesis of it all will you find the pathway forward.'"

Sully sighed. "Didn't Sir Francis ever get tired of making up riddles? He's your ancestor, Nate. I'm blaming you."

Nate shrugged as Sully lit a cigar by the flames of the pyre on his left.

Sully knelt in front of the first statue. "There's something painted on here. It looks like a large island or something thrusting up from a vast ocean."

Elena walked over to the second. "This one has a picture of fish swimming through the waters and birds flying overhead."

Nate checked the third. "The stars and planets and the sun in the sky giving way to the moon at night."

Fiona stood back and examined the others. "A king resting on his throne. A picture of the horizon splitting light and dark. Light bursting forth from utter darkness. Animals gathering around a man." Fiona paused as a thought began to form in her brain. "Guys, it's the Biblical creation. Seven statues. Seven pressure plates. Seven days of creation. They just need to be put in order."

Sully gave Fiona a playful slap on the back. "Nicely done, my dear. Let's get these things in place!"

The four of them worked together to line up the statues along the pressure plates in the correct order, in accordance with the seven days of creation laid out in the book of Genesis. Once the final statue is in place, a large stone rolled away from a hidden passage behind the room. The booming sound of rock sliding against rock masked the sound of a dozen sets of feet coming down the nearby stairs.


	9. Chapter 9

The man in front of the group of armed mercenaries was clearly the one in charge. He was fairly well-built, a little older than Nate; maybe late thirties or early forties. He had a brown goatee to match his curly, disheveled hair. He was dressed in a tan button-down shirt and cargo shorts. He came right off of the safari channel; all he was missing was the pith helmet. "Ah, Nathan Drake! I have heard so much about you."

"Well, I haven't heard jack shit about you."

"So rude, Mr. Drake. I just want to present you with a business opportunity. My name is Jonathan Sellers, and I have come for the jewel."

Nate was puzzled. What jewel was this guy talking about? He changed the subject quickly. "Did you send those guys after us at the airport and hotel?"

"Of course I did, but it was only to get your attention. You see, Mr. Drake, I know that, like me, you perform at your best when you are under pressure. I doubt you would have had the insight to make it here without my help."

Fiona drew her sword and took a defensive stance. "Help?! You call murdering our pilot and trying to mow us down being helpful?"

Sellers shrugged. "I'm sorry, my dear. I have not yet had the pleasure of making your acquaintance. However, I would love to catch up after our business has concluded."

"Cut the bullshit, Sellers," Sully added. "What the hell do you want from us?"

"I have it on good authority that a massive emerald known as the Teardrop of the Caribbean was brought here by Sir Ralph Abercromby during the Battle of San Juan in the late 18th century. When my men discovered that you all were headed here from Mr. Sullivan's pilot friend, I knew that must be why you were here."

Fiona answered by saying what they were all thinking. "But we aren't here for the—"

Nate cut her off quickly. "We aren't here for the Noche de San Juan Bautista festival; that's for sure. But, just for the sake of argument, let's say we find the gem. What's in it for us?"

"You get the satisfaction of knowing that I won't gun you all down in your sleep, Mr. Drake. Isn't that reassuring?"

"Of course. That's how you all respond," Elena replied. "Even so, I still don't understand why you need us. You've got a dozen men; why not just go after it yourself?"

"Insurance, Ms. Fisher. Who knows what sort of booby traps await us down here? You all have a long history of escaping with your hides."

"Barely," Nate added.

"Barely is all I ask for."

"Fine, but we do this my way, Sellers. You wait here and we will return after we enter the sanctuary."

"Of course," answered Sellers, "why would I put myself in danger? But, since you know how much I love insurance…" Sellers motioned towards his goons and they each put a gun to the heads of Sully, Elena, and Fiona.

One of the goons kicked Elena from behind, sending her to the ground with a grunt. "You have 30 minutes. Do come back quickly, Mr. Drake."

Nate knew he had no option but to cooperate. He slowly made his way through the opening in the back wall and entered the sanctuary hidden behind it. He cracked open a glow stick and tried to illuminate the room to the best of his ability. The site before him was truly breathtaking.

Ornately carved pillars bearing the 12 disciples encircled the room, all of which were facing a tomb situated in the room's center. Painted on the back wall was an elaborate map of the world as it was known in the late 16th century.

As Nate eyed the marvels surrounding him, he spoke out loud to himself. "This is spectacular. Francis, you never cease to amaze. Clearly none of this has been touched in centuries. The Battle of San Juan was 200 years after Drake died. Whatever that jewel is, there's no way it can be here." He looked around the room, examining every inch save the casket. He wanted to save the best for last. "Still, I can't come back empty-handed or that son of a bitch will kill all the people closest to me."

The casket was engraved in an ancient Spanish dialect. "Father Luis del Crispo," he read aloud. "All right, father. Let's see who you are." Drake placed his hands on the lid and prepared to push it open. Then, he stopped short and crossed himself. "Forgive me, father, for I have sinned."

With that, he shoved the coffin lid to the floor. Inside, he found the remains of the bones of the priest with a sword lying across his chest. The blade was a thing of beauty. Although Nate certainly preferred a nice firearm strapped to his hip, he knew an amazing sword when he saw one. Fiona would be beside herself to see this.

Nate examined the inside of the tomb more closely. There was an engraving. This one, not nearly as professionally done. Was it inscribed from inside the coffin itself? "Hey buddy, did you bury yourself in here? You must have had a good reason for doing so. What did you write? 'The light of Caliburn illuminates the path to Avalon.' Caliburn? Avalon? Did I just wind up in King Arthur's court?"

Nate slid the magnificent blade out from under the bony grasp of Father Luis. It was covered in mystical runes that came right out of a fantasy novel. When he grabbed it, Nate immediately felt different inside. This sword was special.

"Hmm… The light of Caliburn? Is this really Excalibur? What the hell did Francis Drake stumble onto?"

Daybreak was approaching imminently. Nate was far underground, but he could see a bit of sun shining in from some sort of skylight cut into the roof of the sanctuary. "The light of Caliburn, huh?" Nate walked over towards the map painted on the wall, as he extended Excalibur over his head, the light of the sun hit it with a shimmering radiance, casting a brilliant beam of light onto the map.

"That's—that's the Philippines! Is Avalon in the Philippines? And this location; something is familiar about it."

An alarm on Nate's phone began to blare. He only had two minutes to return to Sellers. "Shit. I've got to get back!"

Nate ran through the passage and into the room just as Sellers was about to pull the trigger to the revolver pointed as his wife's head.

"Sellers! Wait!"


	10. Chapter 10

It was too late. Nate saw the finger pull back the trigger and the hammer snap into place with a click. With a click? Not a bang!

Sellers laughed. "Seems to be your lucky day, Ms. Fisher."

"You asshole!" Nate shouted as he ran toward his wife, Excalibur hanging at his side.

"Looks like you're just in time. So, let's see it. Where's the jewel?"

"Well, Mr. Sellers, it's like this, see? There is no way in hell that the Teardrop of the Caribbean is down here. This place has been sealed since Francis Drake paid it a visit 200 years before Ralph Abercromby ever came here. You're barking up the wrong tree, or, tomb, as it were."

"Wrong answer, Mr. Drake." Sellers pulled the trigger again. The cylinder spun and the hammer snapped forward. Another click. Another empty chamber in the cylinder. "Mr. Drake, eventually, I'm going to run out of empty chambers. Now, give me the emerald! There's no way that all of this elaborate setup would have been built to house absolutely nothing."

"Geez, Sellers! Stop it, already! I didn't say that the sanctuary was empty." Nate withdrew the magnificent weapon hanging at his side. "Behold, Excalibur!"

The sword shined forth with a magical radiance that temporarily blinded everyone in the room except for Nate. He took advantage of the opportunity and lunged forward with the strength of ten men. The magical sword cut through the evil Sellers like a machete through butter. Blood poured from the villain as his body fell limply against the stone floor.

"Now, all of you! Let my friends go, and escape with your lives!" Elena had never seen such a fury in Nate's eyes nor heard such ire in his voice. It had scared her, but it was effective. The band of mercenaries all dropped their assault rifles and ran back up the stairs towards the fort's dungeons.

"Dear God," said Sully, "no wonder William Wallace was defeated so easily. Do you really think John de Menteith had Excalibur?"

"I don't know, Sully, but William Wallace was a trained warrior. It just doesn't seem right that he would fall so easily to a nobleman like John de Menteith."

"We can talk about this later," Elena interrupted. "We have to get out of here before security arrests us all."

Fiona nodded and motioned towards the stairwell. "Let's get going!"

They raced up the staircase towards the hidden door leading into the dungeons. When they arrived, they noticed that the entrance was no longer open. Nate pushed and prodded on the wall. It didn't budge.

"Damn it! We're trapped!"

Fiona slid her katana into the scabbard hidden beneath her shirt. She motioned toward Excalibur. "Let me see that," she insisted.

"Knock yourself out," Nate responded as he passed the weapon forward. "Well, I mean, not literally."

Fiona took the blade in hand and examined it carefully. "What a magnificent specimen!" she exclaimed. "My family has been searching for you for centuries, and now, here you are."

Nate was utterly confused. "Fiona? What're you talking about?"

"It's quite simple, Nate. Almost a thousand years ago, my ancestor Godfrey of Bouillon found Excalibur during the First Crusade. After that, it disappeared and my family never saw it again, but we've never given up searching for it. When I heard that Francis Drake may have been the last person to see it, I answered that ad to look for Drake's coffin with you five years ago. I was planning to betray Estuardo to find the coffin, but you ended up doing it first!"

Nate shrugged. "But that coffin led us to El Dorado, not to Excalibur."

"I know, but it was the only lead I had… until now."

"So what happens now?" Elena asked.

"Nate, I know you are a smart guy. What did you find in that sanctuary? Where did the sword lead you?"

"Why should I tell you?! You look poised to end us all right here."

"Nate. I'm not a murderer. This is for my family. I'm fairly certain that you know where we need to go next."

Nate sighed. "The Philippines." He took out his smartphone and pulled up an image of the island country. "Somewhere in this area."

"Right here?" Sully asked. "Isn't that where Ferdinand Magellan was supposedly killed by natives during his travels?"

"Of course it is," Fiona answered. "Magellan wasn't looking for a way around the world; he was looking for Avalon."

"That's wonderful and all, but we're all still stuck in this god forsaken dungeon."

"That's not entirely true," Fiona answered. As she said those words, she waved Excalibur in the air and disappeared into thin air.

"What the hell?" Elena asked in amazement. "Where did she go?"

"Well, that could have gone better."

"Yep. We're still stuck here," Sully interjected.

"Do you think there's another way out?" asked Elena.

Nate shrugged. "There's no way to be sure, but knowing Sir Francis, he must have had some sort of contingency plan. Still, though, is no one else the least bit concerned about how Fiona just vanished into the ether?"

Sully walked over against the nearby wall. "Only one way to find out."

Sully ran his hands along the protuberances that stuck out from the inset stone. Elena, instead, moved over to the spot where Fiona was standing. They were not having very much luck, when suddenly Nate remembered the light shining into the sanctuary above the beautifully-painted world map. "Guys. I just remembered something. Follow me." They ran down the stairs, walking through the puzzle room, over Sellers's corpse. As they entered the sanctuary, Nate gestured towards the makeshift skylight above them. "Look. Light is coming in from up there. If we can just manage to make it up there, someone could open the way for the rest of us." Nate and Sully looked at each other and then squarely at Nate. "What?" he asked with surprise.

"Nate, you know that there's no way Sully or I can get up there."

Sully slipped off his backpack and laid some of its contents out across the floor. "Climbing gear," he indicated. "Once you get up there, attach the hook and Elena and I can just climb out after you."

Nate nodded. "Here goes nothing." He turned his head from side to side, letting the air out of his neck with a crack. He slung the climbing gear over his shoulder and wrapped the rope around his forearm to keep it from slipping. His eyes mentally scaled the sandstone walls. Cracks, holes, loose stones; these things read clearly in his mind as he jumped for his first handhold with a grunt. He jumped up and to the left a bit, reaching for a stone that had been smoothed away centuries ago. Elena grimaced as Nate's feet slid out from underneath him. Nate reached his right arm over and grabbed a stone brick tightly, using his upper body strength to hold himself against the wall. Elena let out a deep sigh as she realized that Nate was safe. Once his heart had slowed to its normal pace, Nate reached out for his next hand hold, pulling himself higher up the wall.

"Just a little further, kid!" Sully offered.

Nate smiled and looked up towards the skylight. His muscles flexed and he heaved himself up towards the iron grate that ran across the skylight. He reached with his right hand. Missed. Elena's eyes widened as Nate began to fall, but then he stretched out his left hand. Success. The bars made a grinding metallic sound as Nate calmly and slowly pulled his body over to the skylight. He reached through the bars to the ground above him and pushed through the grate until he was outside. His chest heaved in exhaustion as he strained to catch his breath. "Just a minute," he began, "I'll throw down the climbing gear."

Elena smiled as she was filled with pride for her husband. Nate found a good place to attach the grappling hook and threw the rope down to his two favorite people in the world. It was then that he heard the all-to-familiar sound of a Colt 1911 9mm.


	11. Chapter 11

" _Alto_!" yelled the security guard as he brought his weapon to bear on Nate's back.

Elena and Sully Heard the commotion from below as they slowly began to ascend the rope. Nate threw up his hands, and replied, " _No habla español_."

"No trespass," replied the security guard in broken English. "Under arrest to National Park Service."

"Lost! _Perdió_!"

"No good. Liar!"

During a break in the action, Sully had scrambled up the road and stealthily gotten behind the guard. "You're right; he is a no good liar." Sully wrapped his arms tightly around the guard's neck and squeezed until he was unconscious. "But he doesn't have time to stick around here."

"Thanks, Sully."

"That's another one you owe me."

"Heh. Who's keeping count?"

"I am," Elena ascended the rope and bent over to catch her breath. "Where to now?"

"We've got to find Avalon before Fiona does."

"Do you really think she's a threat?"

"I have no idea, but if the sword is trying to lead us there, then it must be hiding something important."

"Then we had better hurry."

()()()()

The wheels of the 747 skated along the runway of Mactan–Cebu International Airport in the Philippines' city of Lapu-Lapu. Fiona had called in all of her favors in order to get Excalibur on board the plane, but now she had to figure out how to find Avalon. It was a bit puzzling to her. This was second-most visited airport in the Philippines, and the island of Mactan, where Magellan was supposedly killed, was a highly-visited tourist attraction. How had Avalon remained hidden in this miniature metropolis for hundreds of years?

She would have really benefitted from Nathan Drake's connections right now, but she had felt it would be better to leave them back in San Juan. Returning Excalibur to Avalon had been her family's mission since long before the days of Scottish independence. Most of her family had given up their quest ages ago, but Fiona had decided at an early age that she would change it all. Her long, wavy red hair blew in the wind as she exited the aircraft. The flight attendant had said something to her, but she was too lost in thought to pay it any mind. She had always resented her parents for giving up looking for Excalibur and Avalon so easily; that was the real reason that she had run away. Her years on the street had prepared her for this, and she did not intend to shy away from her responsibility.

As she left the airport, Fiona made haste. Nate and his friends would be right behind her. They wouldn't have remained trapped in San Cristóbal for long. They were much too resourceful for that.

()()()()

"Get us closer, would ya?" Sully had paid his friend, John Mark Ocampo, to fly them to the area around Mactan Island. Nate appreciated the fact that Sully _always_ had a friend.

"How is it that you know a Filipino pilot who spends most of their off time in San Juan?"

"You can't teach street smarts, kid."

"Sully, that's basically exactly what you did for me back when I was orphaned in Cartagena."

Elena gave both men a hearty smack on the back of their heads. "Will you two shut up and focus?"

"Ouch!" Nate tried to rub away the soreness. He was developing a tiny bald spot at the location where Elena had often struck. "If Avalon is out there, it can't just be hiding. It's a whole freaking island! Has Fiona already found it and left?"

John Mark spoke up. "I don't see anything on radar, and there's no mention of anything unusual in the news."

"Where exactly did Magellan die?" Elena asked.

"Allegedly, right here, Ms. Fisher," John Mark answered as he gestured toward the ground below. "But how the hell we plan to locate Avalon is—"

The aircraft rattled. Gauges began to spin wildly. A loud buzzer boomed through the confines of the plane.

"Why the hell's the proximity warning going off?" Sully's eyes widened as he covered his ears to muffle the sound.

A huge mountain appeared from the center of the ocean. The mountain had clearly not been there a moment ago. "Mr. Ocampo!" Elena closed her eyes and grabbed the co-pilot's yoke. She pulled on the stick as hard as she possibly could. The plane pulled away quickly, but not quickly enough. The right wing slashed across the side of the mountain and everyone inside got tossed through the air into the sides of the cabin.

Nate reached for Elena and grabbed her by the arm just before she hit her head against the windshield. "Brace for impact!"

"No shiiit!" Sully yelled as the airplane plunged into a tree on the island below.


	12. Chapter 12

Fiona slowly opened her eyes as the world came back into view. The colorful blurs were replaced with exotic flora and gorgeous waterfalls flowing down from a mountain that sprouted up from the center of the island like the steeple of the most remarkable of ancient monasteries.

She raised herself up, allowing the heft of the mighty Excalibur to support her modest weight. Peering through the bright sunlight, she saw what appeared to be some sort of cave entrance towards the mountain's summit. She took the magical blade in hand and prepared her heart for the worst. It happened.

A plane seemed to appear from nowhere and crashed into a tree nearby. "What was that?!" She shook her head and resigned herself to the truth that she now understood. "Nathan Drake, I presume?" she asked of no one in particular.

Elena forced her way out of the aircraft first. "Not quite yet." She regained her composure and started to make her way over to Fiona. "What was that all about back in San Juan? Why did you trick us and then leave us to die?"

Fiona shook her head vigorously. "No. I didn't leave you to die, I—"

"What a load of crap!" Sully added as he disembarked, his face and arms covered in cuts, "You knew that you could use Excalibur to escape. Somehow you just knew it!"

"Yeah!" John Mark added as he jumped from the cockpit.

Fiona's expression turned quizzical. "Uhh… I'm sorry. Who are you?"

"John Mark Ocampo!"

"You weren't even there."

"Yeah, but—" John Mark was not the most eloquent of speakers. "Yeah!"

Fiona opened her mouth to explain herself, but Elena interrupted her. "Where's Nate?"

"He didn't get off yet?" John Mark asked.

"Nate! No!" Sully yelled as he jumped back into the plane. Nate was lying against the floor with blood pooling from a head wound. Sully shook his body. There was no response. He placed two fingers on his wrist to check for a pulse. It was faint.

"There's a heartbeat."

Elena's eyes grew red. She reared up and swung her fist hard at Fiona's perfect face. Fiona dodged away at the last second. "This is all your fault! If we had all gone to Avalon together, we would have been safer and we could have shared the Excalibur when needed!"

Fiona stepped back and put up her hand in defense. "Please. I didn't mean for anything to happen to him. The only reason I left you in San Juan was for your own protection. As a descendant of Godfrey of Bouillon, it's my sole responsibility to return the sword to its rightful resting place. After centuries of searching, I, the last of my line, am finally standing on the hallowed grounds of Avalon."

"If you knew Nate better, you'd know that he doesn't abandon those who need him! Nate would have done whatever he could to help you reach your goal."

"But he doesn't—"

"Nate is a good man, Fiona. Don't ever let me hear you say otherwise."

Fiona dropped her gaze to the ground. Her red hair fell down in front of her, covering her face. "Elena; I— I wouldn't dream of it."

Sully popped his head out of the plane. "Elena, I've got to be straight with you. It—doesn't look good."

Tears began to form in Elena's eyes. She wanted to go to her husband, but she wasn't ready to say goodbye.

"No more deception." Fiona's face conformed to a look of sincere determination. "I'm going to save him."

Sully barred the entrance to the plane. "Haven't you done enough already?"

Fiona slid Excalibur into the sheath on her back. "No." She ran towards the door. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Sullivan!" Fiona jumped into the air and threw a kick at Sully from his right. Sully grabbed her leg, thinking he had the upper-hand, but Fiona had anticipated this. She pushed off from his grasp and sent both her legs flying into a powerful drop kick that sent Sully reeling to the ground.

"Damn it. Stop her!" Sully yelled to John Mark. The pilot hurried over to cut her off, but Fiona was too well-prepared. She slipped inside the cockpit and jumped over to where Nate was lying motionless on the floor.

The young woman held Excalibur out across her hands. " _Sanguineus est fulmen_ ," she recited as she made a small cut across her left wrist. The blood trickled down the blade of Excalibur and flowed onto Nate's wounds.

"This has gone far enough!" yelled Sully as he stood up after being knocked to the dirt. He cocked the slide back on his 9mm and pointed it at Fiona's forehead. "Now, back away from him before you force me to pull this trigger."

"Put it—away, Sully."

"Nate?!"

Sully ran over to his friend just as Fiona fainted from a loss of blood.

"Leave me be, Sully. Go help Fiona."

"But, she—"

"Just saved my life." Sully scooped up Fiona into his arms as Nate was struggling to stand. "We gotta get moving." Nate grabbed Excalibur from off the ground and looked toward the summit.

As Nate emerged from the wreckage, his wife came sprinting over to him. She threw her arms around him and kissed him with a deeply abiding love. "Nate! Thank God you're okay!"

Nate smiled and held his wife close. "It's gonna take more than a measly little plane crash to take me out."

Elena saw Sully approach with Fiona. "What're you doing with her?"

"She saved your husband's life."

"Along with the aid of the Excalibur," Nate added. "The least we could do for her is to help her finish her little quest."

"That's great and all, Nate, but how am I supposed to climb a mountain with a human being strapped to my back?"

Fiona's eyes blinked open in a moment of lucidity. "Go to… Foot of the mountain… Blade… Ground." She fainted again.

The adventurers searched the area, trying to piece together what Fiona had been saying. At last, Nate saw what appeared to be stone carved into the earth below. He pushed the leaves and vines aside to reveal an indentation in the ground. It was very similar to the one he had seen in Edinburgh Castle. He slid Excalibur into the hole and a huge stone staircase folded immediately over the mountainside. Its steps led straight to the summit cave.

Nate smiled at his friend as he withdrew the blade from its location. "Can you handle a few steps?"


	13. Chapter 13

Sully's chest heaved and sweat poured from his brow as he laid Fiona and himself both down to rest. "That was way more than a few."

Nate shrugged as he and Elena sat down by Sully. "Not my fault if you can't keep up, old timer."

"You ever going to get tired of the age jokes?"

"Is Apple going to quit releasing new phones every year?"

"What? I don't know."

"Exactly."

Elena rolled her eyes. "I cannot envy Fiona enough for being knocked out a this moment. Being around you two… it's like being out on the schoolyard all over again."

Nate stood up and spread out his hands. "Show me one schoolyard that looks like this." He was right; Elena had to admit it. The exquisite beauty of Avalon was like nothing she had ever seen, and she had seen _a lot_. They spent a moment drinking in the view one last time before venturing towards the cave cut into the summit of the mountain.

Fiona awoke and called out to them as they were about to enter. "This is my responsibility, and I cannot thank you all enough for your aid. However, I should go first."

Nate handed her a glow stick. Its bright green glow illuminated the ancient staircase carved into the rock. "After you."

Sully brought up the rear. "Are you kidding me? After an hour of climbing upstairs, all that just leads to a staircase going back down? What would have been wrong with just putting the cave at the bottom of the mountain?"

Elena was also displeased. "That would have been too easy, Sully."

The staircase was of a very unusual design. The stairs were carved into the outer edges of the cave and they were extremely narrow. This meant that the descent required the utmost patience, or it would mean that falling was a certainty. Furthermore, it was a long way down.

"Everyone watch your step," Fiona cautioned. "This is not going to be as easy as we thought."

"You've got that right!" came a feminine voice from behind them.

Nate turned his head to see a young woman along with a half a dozen armed guards surrounding her. All of them had taken up a defensive position at the entrance to the cave.

"Shit." Sully was getting sick of the consistent barriers to his treasure. "Who the hell is it this time?"

"My name is Laura Stewart. It is my destiny to—"

"Geez. Give it a rest, lady. Yes, you need Excalibur. Yes, you must find Avalon. Blah blah blah. We've heard it all before."

Fiona stopped in her tracks at hearing that name. She turned to face the woman. She was young and beautiful, much like herself. Her long brown hair flowed down against a skintight black suit of some kind that was clearly designed for stealth. The symbols and markings upon it looked familiar, but she could not quite place them. "Laura Stewart? You are descended from Bailloch Stewart, grandfather of the traitorous John de Menteith! Your family represents the darkest mark on Scotland's history!"

Laura pulled a small handgun from her hip. Nate could not infer the make in the darkness. "Excalibur and Avalon belong to my family, you unruly bitch!"

Sully shook his head. "Nate, why are we always in the crossfire between two women?"

"Not as bad as that time in Monte Carlo."

Sully laughed. "Ha. Maybe not, kid."

"You two, shut up!" Laura yelled. "We have you surrounded. You have nowhere to go; no cover to hide behind. Give me the sword and stand down."

"Nate. She's got us." Elena said, her heart hurting for him. "Give it to her. It's not worth it."

Fiona protested. "Nate, if you give Excalibur to this traitor, Scotland is done for. And, she won't stop at Scotland; I can promise you that."

"And if I don't give it to her, then she'll kill us and take it anyway." Nate slowly pulled the sword from its sheath. "Laura, I'm coming over. Let the rest of them go."

"Come to the end of the staircase and toss it to me."

Nate pressed his back against the wall. Sully and Elena guided him slowly past them towards the top stair. He held the weapon with the blade pointed down. A host of firearms were still pointed in his direction. He held it out, ready to toss it. "Just let them go, and I'll toss this right over. I know you must have climbing gear. Send some guys to bring them across safely, and you will have it. I promise."

"You're not in a position to make bargains, Drake. Hand it over!"

Nate smiled. Oh, I'm in a great position to make a bargain. All I have to do is—" Nate dangled the magical sword over the deep abyss and mimed letting it go.

"No! Don't you dare, you smarmy American bastard!"

"Tsk. Tsk. You've got quite a mouth on you."

"I'm calling your bluff, Drake! You wouldn't dream of giving up such a priceless artifact so easily."

"Sorry, Laura. Nothing is more priceless than the ones closest to me." Nate bent over the side of the stair, letting Excalibur hang off the edge. Then, he let the sword drop.


	14. Chapter 14

"Nooooo!" Laura watched in disbelief as Excalibur started its descent into blackness. She then saw Nate kick it with the end of his foot so the it spiraled toward one of Laura's hired henchmen, embedding itself in his ribcage. He immediately lost his footing and toppled over into the abyss below.

"Oops!" Nate said as he drew a pistol and began firing on another. "Go! Go!"

"Come on!" Fiona shouted as she pushed her way down the stairs with Sully and Elena in tow.

Nate had run and leapt over to kick a third gunman in the face, knocking him hard to the floor.

"Kill him!" Laura shouted.

"Real original, lady," Nate answered back.

()()()()

Fiona, Sully, and Elena rushed down the stairs as a few bullets whizzed past and stuck against the nearby wall. Fortunately, Nate had drawn most of their fire, but a few of Laura's goons stayed focused on the three of them.

Sully slid his Magnum out of the holster and blindly fired it behind him, in the general direction of his foes. "Fiona, can you see the bottom?"

"Not quite, but we should be getting close."

Elena tried to look behind her, but she couldn't safely manage it. "Can you tell how Nate is doing?"

"Oh craaaaap!" Nate yelled as a grenade exploded beside him.

"He's fine."

Fiona waved the glow stick in front of her. "There's the bottom!" Fiona jumped down the last five or so steps and rolled onto the stone floor. The chamber at the bottom was clearly built hundreds, likely thousands of years ago. She pulled her hair into a ponytail as she surveyed the room. It was a huge, open circle with various renditions of classical Christian imagery painted throughout. Even after having stood for millennia, it appeared almost untouched by the passage of time. The stone columns that held up the temple-like structure were covered in immaculately-crafted gargoyles, angels, and other religious artifacts. She waved the glow stick to the left and its green glow illuminated the runes of the magical sword that now lay across the stone floor… along with what was left of the mercenary who had it stuck inside him.

"Looks like he got the point," Sully quipped.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Seriously? That's the best you've got right now?"

"Looks like the message really stuck with him?"

Fiona drew her katana as she moved to reach for Excalibur. "Look, Sullivan. I did not fly thousands of miles, slice myself open, and get shot at multiple times to deal with your awful puns in the middle of the lost island of Avalon."

"Fine, fine! I'll sheathe my comments for now."

Elena sigh irritably and slugged Sully lightly in the gut. He groaned, and although it didn't hurt him very much, he wanted to put on a good show. He grabbed his stomach and bent over. "Grab the sword and let's press on."

"I'm really worried about Nate," Elena confessed. "There's no way he can handle all of those guys by himself."

"Nate's more resourceful that he looks," Sully admitted. "But, your point is taken. Why don't you two head deeper into the catacombs and I'll head back up and help him out?"

Elena reached out her arms and hugged him. "Thanks, Sully."

()()()()

Nate's body went sliding across the smooth stone floor as his friend had just finished climbing another set of stairs. His face was bruised and blood was running down his chin from a cut on his lip. "Oh, Sully. Come to join the party?"

Sully kneed a nearby assailant and shoved him down the stairs. "You look like hell, kid."

Nate's gun had been knocked away ages ago, and his fists were bruised and sore from having to punch through helmets and flak vests and whatever other body armor Laura's personal army had. He appreciated the help. "I'll take that as a yes." Sully bent down to help Nate to his feet, and then pushed him out of the way immediately as a flurry of bullets came sailing in their direction. He jumped away just in time for the nearest bullet graze him on the right shoulder instead of striking him fatally in the chest.

"Sully! You all right?"

"Just a scratch." He tossed a Colt .45 Defender to Nate with his left arm as he tried to tie off the wound on his right. "Now, be a good boy and scratch him back."

Nate smiled and fired off the few shots that remained in the clip. Two more of Laura's hired muscle dropped to the ground. "You're running out of friends," Nate said.

"You jest, Drake, but you should be aware that I don't need friends. Friends only get in the way. When I hired that dolt Sellers to bring me Excalibur in San Juan, I knew I was crazy to think he could be trusted."

While Laura was monologuing, Sully had managed to move behind her undetected. He pulled the hammer back on his revolver as he pointed the barrel at her temple. "You're wrong. Friends are the _only_ thing you can count on."

Laura sighed. "Perhaps you're right, Sullivan."

As he grabbed her tighter, pushing the barrel of the gun firmly against her forehead, he noticed multiple laser points on his friend's head. They were on his as well. "Shit. Snipers."

"I prefer to call them 'hired friends.'"

"Well, that's a stupid name," Nate interjected.

"I've dealt with your idiocy long enough, Drake." Laura turned to her makeshift firing squad. "Fire!"

()()()()

Elena's heart sank when she heard the flurry of gunfire erupt from far above her. "Nate!"

She wanted to run to him, but Fiona grabbed her by the hem of her sleeve. "I'm really sorry, Elena, but we need to focus. Nate has entrusted us to make sure that Excalibur does not fall into the wrong hands. We can't let him down!"

Elena nodded. "I suppose you're right. You're young, and you're beautiful, but you're also right."

Fiona smiled. "Don't sell yourself short, Elena. You know that Nate can't even think about another woman whenever you're around."

Elena laughed. "Ha! If only that were true. In fact, I—"

"Who goes there?" the deep voice echoed through the dark hallway. It shook with such force that pebbles began to crumble off the walls and plink against the masonry along the temple floor.

Fiona held her katana in her right hand and the glow stick in the left. Its viridescent light revealed the speaker: a man standing in full plate armor. Upon his shield was painted a red banner of three points, known as a gonfalon, and it looked like something straight out of a medieval fantasy movie. The armor was in pristine condition; Elena thought that maybe this guy was a frequenter of renaissance fairs or was really into live action role-playing. "I say again: who goes there?" Maybe not.

"Uhh…" Elena mustered up all of the public speaking rhetoric that she could find from within. She had seen enough films to know how to approach the situation. "It is I, Elena of the sovereign state of Florida. My companion and I come in peace, and bear great tidings to you, oh good master."

The knight turned to Fiona and opened his visor. An ancient pair of eyes looked back at her. "Why the hell's she talking like that?"


	15. Chapter 15

Nate opened his eyes slowly. _Am I alive? How am I alive? What the hell's going on?_

Sully looked around. The bodies of the snipers were laid out on the rocks overhead, motionless. A voice came from above, "Did you guys forget about me or what?"

Someone threw a rope down the side of the rock and let it slide down into the cave. "I was just going to wait by the plane, but I got too bored. Avalon is beautiful, but there's nothing to do here. They don't even have Wi-Fi!" John Mark Ocampo could not have arrived at a better time.

"Buddy," said Sully with a smile, "am I glad to see you."

"What the hell did you do to my men?" Laura asked.

"I didn't do anything." John Mark brandished the AK-47 that was hanging across his chest. "It was all the gun's fault."

Nate joined Sully in aiming his weapon at their adversary. "We need to do something about her, but I don't really want to hit a woman."

John Mark shrugged. "Oh, I don't mind." He rammed his fist hard across the face of Laura Stewart who went down like a sack of potatoes.

()()()()

"Oh, sorry." Elena was embarrassed.

"My name is Fiona McAllister; this is Elena Fisher. And you are?"

"Sir Bedivere, Knight of the Round Table of his majesty, King Arthur Pendragon."

Elena laughed quietly. "Right, and I'm the Queen of Spain."

"I thought you said you hailed from Florida."

Fiona's face brightened. "Elena, we're on Avalon! Why _wouldn't_ this be Sir Bedivere? If Avalon is real, and Excalibur is real, then why wouldn't—"

"Excalibur? How do you know of his majesty's sacred blade?!"

"It led us here," answered Elena. "We found it in a tomb, hidden there by—"

"You found Excalibur?! I have been here for 1,500 years waiting for the sword's return. On Arthur's deathbed, he bade me return the blade to the Lady of the Lake, but I failed. I have been here on Avalon ever since, and my spirit is cursed to remain here forever unless I fulfill the king's request."

Fiona put away her katana and withdrew the glorious blade from the scabbard at her side. "Behold, Excalibur!" She raised the sword above her head and its awesome light filled the temple. _I always wanted to say that_ , she thought.

"Dear God, I cannot believe it. Has my Lord finally seen fit to allow me to fulfill my vow?"

"This blade must never fall into the wrong hands. Sir Bedivere, I entrust it to you." Fiona had never felt so regal in her life. She kneeled and placed the sword across her hands, extending it to the ancient knight. Bedivere eyed it carefully; he had been waiting for this moment for ages.

"So, where is the Lake?" Elena asked, her journalistic nature taking full control. "How are you planning to return it?"

Sir Bedivere slid the sword into a previously-hidden scabbard. It was encrusted with a grand host of precious gems and was formed from a gorgeous mixture of steel and gold. "And now, the sword returns to its rightful scabbard. But, as the once and future king has passed away, it is my duty to return it, lest it fall into the hands of evil."

"That's great and all, but you didn't answer my question."

"Before Merlin decided to leave our world, he fashioned some sort of magical gateway to connect Avalon with the Lake. The Lady is immortal, she should still be ready to accept it."

"Well, that's convenient."

"Quite," Bedivere agreed.

()()()()

"So, now what?" Nate wasn't extremely pleased to see the woman laid out across the ground, but, in most cases, he'd rather it be anyone else than himself.

"I imagine the girls are taking care of business down below," Sully answered.

A juvenile grin crossed John Mark's face. "Yeah, I bet they—"

"Do _not_ finish that sentence," insisted Nate. "That's my wife you're talking about."

"—And a hot redhead!"

Sully saw the fire well up in Nate's eyes, and he held up his hand to prevent him from throwing a punch. "Don't forget, Nate. He just saved our asses."

Nate angrily dropped his hands to his sides. "Lucky for him."

Sully tried again to break up the tension in the room. "What say we go see what the ladies have found?"

"Lead on, partner," Nate said.

"Right," said John Mark. "I'll just head back and try to get that plane up and moving."

()()()()

To Elena, it looked like a giant hole ripped into the fabric of time and space. Chances are, it was. She did her best to cast aside her reservations and followed Sir Bedivere and Fiona through the portal. The exquisite beauty of Avalon disappeared and gave way to a small patch of land on the edge of a large body of water. Gray clouds loomed overhead. Lightning flashed in the distance. Her eyes must have been deceiving her. No matter where she looked, she saw only the lake and the small patch of grass upon which she was currently standing. A strange feeling came over her; she felt like the odd woman out. Nate and Sully had always made her feel included, ever since that selfish move where the two of them had driven off from port without her. She had forgiven them long ago for that, though. This situation, however, just felt wrong somehow.

Fiona was talking to Sir Bedivere, but Elena could not make out their words. She strained her ears, but kept her eyes facing forward.

"Even after all this time," began the knight, "I still don't know if I can go through with it."

Fiona's tone changed to one of anger. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Britain could rise to power again. If I just presented my gift to the new king, I—"

"First of all, Britain is a pretty strong world power. Secondly, we have a queen now, not a king. Thirdly, the queen has almost no real political power."

"What do you mean, _we_?" Bedivere asked. "You don't sound like one of the subjects of England."

"England? No. Britain? Yes."

Elena was a bit perplexed. _That whole Great Britain vs. England vs. United Kingdom thing has always confused me, too._ Apparently, Bedivere didn't seem to understand, either. Fiona spent the next few minutes explaining how the United Kingdom was considered to be one nation, which she concluded by stating, "Now, throw the sword in, already!"

"You're right," Bedivere finally admitted. "It shall be so." He flung Excalibur high into the air towards the great lake. A single arm reached up and grabbed the sword out of the sky, pulling it back into the water.

"So, wait," Elena began, "if you need Excalibur to make Avalon appear and Excalibur is now no longer at Avalon…?"

"Oh, fecal matter!" Bedivere said. He looked at Fiona for approval. "Did I use that term correctly?"

"Close enough."


	16. Chapter 16

As Nate and Sully ran down the steps, the old man had to stop at the end to catch his breath. "Holy hell, I am so sick of stairs."

"Where are Elena and Fiona?" asked Nate.

"No idea, kid. They can't be far because—"

Before Sully could finish his sentence, the earth below him started to shake violently. Cracks formed in the columns supporting the temple in the center of the room.

"Crap, Sully! Why does this always happen?! Elena? Fiona? Where are you?"

When the two ladies reappeared, Sir Bedivere was not among them.

"Elena! Thank God. Where'd you go?"

"Long story. No time to tell it."

The stairs were starting to cracks and a few steps had begun to break apart and slide down the rock wall.

"Quick!" Fiona shouted. "Up the stairs before they all come crashing down!"

"To hell with more stairs!" Sully pulled a grenade from a pouch on his waist and tossed it against the mountain wall. It exploded in an orange and red flame and bits of rock were strewn across the cave floor; however, the hole it left behind was big enough to squeeze through.

"That's… not going to help the structural integrity of this place."

"This place is a lost cause. Move it, kid!"

The four of them pushed through the hole, just barely making it out before a nearby wall crashed down behind them. Nate grabbed Elena's hand. He had put her through entirely too much, and he knew that sooner or later, it was going to catch up to her. To both of them. "Everybody run for the plane!"

"Is that thing going to be able to make it off the ground?"

"There's only one way to—oh crap!" A large chunk of rock broke off from the mountain and came rolling towards them at high speed. Nate squeezed his wife's hand harder. "Jump!" The two of them dove behind a gigantic cedar tree as the boulder broke apart against its trunk.

Elena tried to manage her breathing as she continued to run. "That—that was too close."

"There it is!" exclaimed Fiona. John Mark was standing outside, awaiting them.

Fiona was the first to arrive at the scene."Is the plane ready to go?"

"Kind of."

"What does 'kind of' mean?" Nate asked with hesitation.

John Mark pointed behind the wreckage. "I've got the emergency raft almost blown up."

"That's not even remotely close to 'kind of.'"

"We don't have much of a choice," said Elena. "We'll take what we can get. Nate, help John Mark get that thing seaworthy."

"Right. Sully, round up whatever supplies you can find. We're going to have to make this look good."

"Does supplies include these golden statues I found inside?"

"Victor Sullivan, you're a beautiful man."

"I'm going to be a lot uglier if I get crushed under this mountain. Get that raft in the water!"

Nate and John Mark worked quickly to inflate the raft, and they pushed it to the nearby shore. A quick glance behind him showed the majestic mountain crumbling to the earth. The island was sinking into the sea. "Let's get off this rock!" Nate yelled.

"Or, what's left of it!"

The five of them crowded into the four person raft and shoved off to sea. After a few hours of rowing and complaining, the tiny raft finally washed up on the beaches of Mactan.

"Man, is it good to be on solid earth again," Nate said as he jumped overboard.

Elena ran ahead of him. "Last one to the bar buys all the drinks!"

Fiona jumped out and ran after them. "Hey! That's not fair!"


	17. Epilogue

The sound of clinking glass was a welcome one, resounding through the air as Nate and Sully hit their beer bottles together. "What will you do now?" The older man asked his protégé.

"I think Elena and I have earned some much overdue rest."

Sully leaned back in his seat and kicked his legs up on the table. The ocean waves crashed behind them and the bright sun reflected off his cheap sunglasses. "I couldn't agree more, kid." He took a puff of his cigar and grinned.

"If treasure hunting doesn't kill you, those cigars will, Sully. When are you ever going to quit?"

"It's going to take a lot more than a couple of Cubans to put down Victor Sullivan."

"What about a couple of Cuban women?"

Sully laughed. "Now we're talking."

()()()()

In a dimly lit room, devoid of any furniture or decorations, a young and beautiful brunette stood alone, facing an empty wall. "I have returned."

The voice that responded was clearly altered by mechanical means. "You've failed me. How dare you even show your face here?"

"I saw it. I was there."

"You made it to Avalon?"

"I did."

"And Excalibur?"

"I saw it, too, but I believe it was returned to the Lady of the Lake."

"So it is lost forever, then? You moron! I gave you an army and unlimited resources. How could you screw this up so badly?"

"Nathan Drake. He is ever the fly in the ointment. He has got to be stopped."

"And why should I trust you to succeed next time?"

"Because, Mr. McAllister," Laura held up her hand to the unseen figure. It bore a strange symbol that was glowing a deep blue in the darkness. "The trip wasn't a total loss."


End file.
